ASA ruling against beauty brand for making medicinal claims

The Advertising Standards Authority (‘ASA’) upheld a complaint against Sweet Bee Organics Ltd (‘Sweet Bee’). The ad promoted the product Sweet Sleep Magnesium Butter and stated:

• “The calming effects of magnesium and herbal extracts promote better sleep quality, tackling insomnia and encouraging more restful nights”;
• “The calming effects of magnesium pacify the nervous system”; and
• “Helps balance hormones” and “offer a non-hormonal menopause solution”.

A complainant challenged this ad stating that the ad made medicinal claims as an unlicenced product. Sweet Bee argued that the ad was comparable to permitted claims for food supplements containing magnesium. They argued that the claims applied to magnesium as a supplement would have extended to topical creams containing the same ingredients.

The ASA upheld the complaint stating that the claims made within the ad constituted medicinal claims and as such would need the relevant authorisation from Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory.

Medicinal claims on consumer products are heavily regulated and specialist compliance advice must be sought on the nature, composition, labelling and marketing claims for such products.